The CIA Is Sorry for Spying on Senators

The Central Intelligence Agency's inspector general found that the agency did indeed spy on the Senate Intelligence Committee during its investigation into its torture program. CIA Director John Brennan issued a formal apology Thursday following the release the report.

In a statement to reporters, CIA spokesman Dean Boyd said the inspector general report found that agency officials monitored Senate staffers as they combed through top secret data on the spy agency's network. “Some CIA employees acted in a manner inconsistent with the common understanding reached between (the Senate special committee) and the CIA in 2009 regarding access" to the data, the statement reads.

In March, Sen. Dianne Feinstein accused the CIA of spying on the Senate as it completed its report, and criticized the agency's efforts to block the landmark investigation into its torture programs. Sen. Mark Udall sent a letter to President Obama documenting his concerns, and sent out this tweet on the inspector general report:

.@CIA IG rprt shows John Brennan misled public, whose interests I have championed. I will fight for change at the CIA:http://t.co/uQVsvV43nB

According to McClatchy, Director Brennan briefed the Senate Intelligence committee on the inspector general's findings and apologized personally. “The director . . . apologized to them for such actions by CIA officers as described in the OIG (Office of Inspector General Report),” Boyd told McClatchy. Back in March, Brennan flat out denied the allegations. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said during an event with the Council on Foreign Relations. “We wouldn’t do that. That’s just beyond the scope of reason in terms of what we’d do."